Install jinja2-cli with Homebrew, apk, Nix, apt

Project links

• Homepage

Commands and aliases

• jinja2

Project history

The package appeared on PyPI in 2012 as `jinja2-cli`, described as the CLI for Jinja2. Its early releases established the core pattern that still defines the tool: run `jinja2 template.j2 data.json`, or pipe data into `jinja2`, and render with Jinja using JSON and related input formats.

The 0.x release line gradually added and maintained data-format handling and CLI behavior. In 2026 the project reached v1.0.0 after the maintainer returned to the backlog and open pull requests, kept backward compatibility except for dropping Python 2, and pointed users to the expanded docs directory.

Adoption history

The README lists several real-world dependents, including Freedom of the Press Foundation's Dangerzone, Elastic Docker images, and ScyllaDB CloudFormation templates, plus hundreds of GitHub dependents. Its packaging footprint includes PyPI, Homebrew, nixpkgs, AUR, and Alpine, matching its role as a small automation tool used from many operating-system package ecosystems.

How it is used

The tool reads data from files or stdin, supports inline variables with `-D key=value`, allows custom Jinja2 extensions, imports custom filters with `-F`, and exposes Jinja2 environment options. Built-in formats include JSON, INI, ENV, querystring, and TOML on Python versions with standard TOML support, with optional extras for YAML, XML, HJSON, and JSON5.

Why package nerds care

jinja2-cli is significant because it packages a Python template engine in the smallest useful Unix shape: one executable that accepts a template and data. It is the kind of tool that appears in Docker builds, release scripts, Kubernetes and cloud-template generation, and distro package sets because it avoids dragging a bespoke Python application into each repository.

Timeline

• 2012: PyPI release 0.1.0 introduced the package as a CLI for Jinja2.
• 2015: The 0.3 and 0.4 releases continued the early Python packaging line.
• 2017: Version 0.6.0 extended the 0.x series.
• 2019: Version 0.7.0 continued the tool's use as a small templating CLI.
• 2022: Version 0.8.2 closed the pre-1.0 release line.
• 2026: v1.0.0 dropped Python 2 support and refreshed the project after backlog and pull-request review.

Related projects

• jinja2-cli depends conceptually on Jinja2 from the Pallets project and overlaps with command-line templating tools such as gomplate, envsubst, mustache CLIs, yq/jq pipelines, cookiecutter, and configuration generators used in infrastructure repositories.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/mattrobenolt/jinja2-cli/releases?per_page=100
• https://github.com/mattrobenolt/jinja2-cli
• https://github.com/mattrobenolt/jinja2-cli/tree/main/docs
• https://jinja.palletsprojects.com/
• https://pypi.org/pypi/jinja2-cli/json
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mattrobenolt/jinja2-cli/main/README.md